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Topic: Nectar flow...when to quit feeding?? (Read 1002 times)

Hey all. Opened the hive today...looks GREAT. Saw eggs, larvae, capped brood and new bees. They are bringing in pollen like gangbusters, and there is even capped honey in the corners of some brood frames.

Here's my question...when do I stop feeding sugar syrup? The apple blossoms are just about to pop, and they are going mad for dandelions...they are starting to store sugar syrup in some of the drawn comb on the outer frames...I don't want them to fill up space so the queen can't lay...thoughts?

You should be ok till you add honey supers. How many brood boxes do you have on now? Medium or deep? The capped honey on the brood frame corners is their feed for the brood. If they quit taking the syrup don't put it in. Hope this helps. :) d2

I have one deep on so far. Do I really feed them until I put supers on? I have probably about 50% of the deep filled up, and I plan to add another when about 70-75% is full. I'm just afraid they'll store too much sugar syrup and not leave the queen room for eggs...thanks!

If you have nectar flows starting I would go ahead and stop feeding. If you have 2 or 3 frames that contain nectar/honey that don't have brood you should be ok to stop feeding. If you have a strong colony you need two brood boxes, I have used 3 deeps, it was a "super" swarm. :) d2

I have one deep on so far. Do I really feed them until I put supers on? I have probably about 50% of the deep filled up, and I plan to add another when about 70-75% is full. I'm just afraid they'll store too much sugar syrup and not leave the queen room for eggs...thanks!

I have one deep on so far. Do I really feed them until I put supers on?

Of course you do not feed. What is the idea in that, as you supposed yourselves.

The colony grows along the speed of brood cycle. You cannot speed up the progress. It is an advantage that there are minimum amount of syrup in the hive because they get honey outside.Let the deep first become full of bees. Then give another deep under the present box. Colony occupyes the foundations when it has resources to it.

If you give a excluder and super next, the hive is not ready to get surplus. The super is for nothing and if the queen is good, there will be lack on laying space in the deep.

when a colony is fastly growing, it uses almost all food and there is no honey in super during next one month.

I know very well what happens in hives in that time. Our dandelions and apple trees will be in bloom at the end May = after 2 weeks.